Yamato the Vampire Slayer 2
by Empress of the Eclipse
Summary: Matt's finally accepted the freak of nature that called him as the new Slayer. But has he really accepted it? And what's going to happen between him and his friends? Digimon/Buffy cross-over, contains YOAI, Taito and Daiken to specify! Plus some Angel/Spi
1. Magic Books

Yamato the Vampire Slayer 2  
Magic Books  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or Buffy.  
  
Yaoi and slash ahead! Yamachi/Taito (Matt and Tai), Daiken (Davis and Ken) and remnants of other yaoiness. For anyone who hasn't already twigged, that means Boy/boy in relationships! You have been warned!  
  
Quick summary - Matt Ishida, 16, was called as the new Slayer when Buffy Summers died. He was apparently called because he is a transsexual and because Buffy has already died once, a normal Slayer would not be called. Therefore, the magic allowed Matt to be called. His Watcher, Ms Ishiko Fuyutsuki trained him and tried to keep his friends from discovering his secret. However, this proved impossible when Tai Yagami started nosing around. After he discovered Matt's secret, his other close friends weren't far behind. Soon, Matt had a small army behind him. After a climatic battle with Darla, Drusilla and his once-brother, now-vampire TK, Matt accepted his destiny. At least - that's how it appears.  
  
This contains my version of the Teenage Wolves (Matt's band), Gendo Ikari, Akemi Nakatsuru, Toshiki Miyahara and Istu Katsuragi. They're seriously wacky and moral-free. Oh and they're all bisexual! (I warned you about the yoai/slash didn't I?)  
  
Black. Swirling storm clouds.  
'It's very cold out here...'  
A sudden woosh of images, almost too fast to catch anything, yet the details clear in his mind.  
A girl with swirling, shadow-coloured hair sitting on a sofa, idly twisting a black thread in her fingers. A man standing behind her, young but with silvery-white hair swirling around his shoulders.  
A demon attacking a girl with long blonde hair. The girl screaming in pain as a knife entered her hand.  
Davis crouched in the centre of a fiery circle, eyes huge with fear, blood dripping from wounds on his hands.  
Ken in an alleyway, backing away from an attacking vampire. An explosion of light, blinding with it's intensity.  
A kaleidoscope of creatures, vampires, demons.  
Matt Ishida jerked away with a start, sweating dripping down his face.  
"Jeez," he muttered, curling himself up into a ball "I fight demons enough in the day, do I really have to dream about 'em?"  
He went back to sleep and when he woke up, he didn't remember the dream at all.  
* * * *  
"So remind me again why we're here?" Akemi asked, tugging at the rug that they were all sitting on.  
"Because I need an off-day," Matt said "I'm tired, I'm over-exerted and I want a nice day out in the sun."  
"Yeah," Akemi said "So why are we by the canal?"  
"You have a problem with the canal?" Toshiki asked lazily.  
Matt grinned as Toshiki and Akemi began squabbling. He hadn't been out with the band for such a long time.  
Well not out with then on a purely amusing trip anyway. If you counted going out and killing demons and unspeakable hell-creatures...well, that was a different matter entirely. Only last night they'd killed a large givlap demon that had been planning on destroying the entire district, following that off with taking over the universe.  
Just another Tuesday of Yamato Ishida's life.  
On the other hand, the givlap demon had only been about a foot high and had been rather a useless bad guy and had in fact been suffering violent delusions of grandeur. So maybe it was actually an unusual Tuesday night in his life.  
Not that it was Tuesday. It was actually Thursday. But it didn't really matter on way or the other.  
"Matt, what are you day dreaming about?" Akemi asked, obviously in a mood to be crabby "You're staring off in the distance like a nutter."  
"Oooh, are you thinking about Angel?" Toshiki teased.  
There was a number of giggles.  
"Can it you guys," Matt said "I'm not thinking about Angel."  
Angel was a vampire with a soul he'd met just after he'd first been Called. Matt had found him very, very attractive and the two of them had been in a sort of vague relationship that was slightly spoiled by the fact that Angel was completely unavailable as a moment of happiness would take away his soul and turn him into an evil monster. However, Matt had enjoyed his brief and doomed relationship. Unfortunately, the band knew about it and were always teasing him about it.  
"What's wrong Matt?" Akemi said wickedly "Is he mooning over his Angel kins?"  
"Piss off Akemi," Matt ordered "Or I'll have to thump you."  
"You wouldn't," Akemi said "Slayer strength stops you!"  
"No, it adds to my ammunition!" Matt said.  
"Oh stop it you two, it's too hot," Gendo said, drowsily swatting at them. Matt comforted himself with a filthy look at Akemi, who smiled back sweetly.  
"Man, I can't believe that the summer's almost over," Istu said "It's just so unfair! Colour me pissed off."  
"Yeah, it sucks," Gendo said "I'm no fan of the excitement of work. Sorry did I say excitement? I meant utter boredom and pointlessness."  
"You're just upset because you know that you're in big trouble because you didn't go to summer school which you were supposed to," Toshiki said.  
"What, they actually thought that I was going to go to that?" Gendo said "It's not mandatory."  
"Actually I think it was mandatory but never mind," Toshiki said "If they kick you out, it's not my fault!"  
Gendo shrugged.  
"Oh, I'd never get over it," he said "No more school. Agony, pain and horror."  
"School," Akemi said with a groan "Why didn't I quit like Matt?"  
There was an awkward pause. Matt could feel his smile fading away.  
It had been a big taboo subject all summer that Matt had given up school. They all knew that the only way that Matt was going to survive his slaying was to give up school. As it was, he'd only scraped a handful of qualifications, which were all probably useless in the grand scheme of things. But while the band knew that it was necessary, Matt's father did not. And this decision had not gone down well at all.  
Matt shivered, remembering the horrible screaming row that had ensured when he'd finally bought up enough courage to tell him. His father had grounded him for a week. Matt had ignored this completely, sliding in and out of window almost every night. Vamps and demons didn't stop when the Slayer was grounded. His father didn't know that he'd done that but it hardly mattered. Their relationship was strained at best. Matt was avoiding being around him as much as possible. But it meant that he wasn't really up for discussing school.  
"Sorry Matt," Akemi muttered.  
"S'okay," Matt lied "I'm cool with it."  
He looked at the murky canal water.  
Suddenly he wasn't having so much fun.  
* * * *  
"Yamato, are you paying attention?"  
"Yes," Matt lied.  
Ms Fuyutsuki glowered at him. Her Slayer was sitting on her couch twirling a strand of his long blonde hair around one finger, eyes vacant.  
"You have been neglecting your studying," she said crossly.  
"I hate studying," Matt said "Why does the Slayer have to study anyway? Your books are old, musty and completely impossible. And why do I have to know what the demons are? I can never remember it and anyway, isn't that YOUR job?"  
"Ya-mato..."  
Matt sighed and looked at his Watcher. She glared back at him, hair in the usual forbidding bun, eyes filled with their normal angry glower. Matt knew that Ms Fuyutsuki disapproved of him and probably wished that she (a) had a Slayer who was actually a girl and (b) had a Slayer who listened to her rules and regulations. Matt was definitely not a girl and he refused to obey about half of the things that Ms Fuyutsuki ordered him to do. Mainly because most of them - in his opinion - sucked.  
"Okay, okay, I'm paying attention," Matt said "What thrilling thing are you telling me about?"  
Ms Fuyutsuki's eyes narrowed.  
"You are neglecting your duties," she snapped "You have not been doing all the practising that you should have been this summer."  
"Why bother?" Matt asked "I'll have the rest of my life to train. One more summer to kick about in."  
"You may think that you have time to 'kick about'," Ms Fuyutsuki snapped "But evil does not rest!"  
"Well, I haven't exactly been kicking around all summer," Matt said irritably "Patrolling every night...killing demons and vampires..."  
"Practising music with that idiot band," Ms Fuyutsuki said "Spending time with those stupid friends..."  
"They aren't stupid!" Matt shouted angrily "They know stuff!"  
He went quiet then. His friends...  
Matt was having trouble with his friends. Tai, Ken and Davis completely believed everything that he'd said. They'd seen the chaos the evil caused with their own eyes and had come into contact with it. The others...  
Well, they'd been told. But while they seemed to almost believe...  
Matt bit his lip.  
"Yamato!"  
"What?"  
"You are still not paying attention!"  
"No," Matt agreed flatly "Can I go Slay now?"  
"YAMATO!"  
"You were the one who said that I was shirking too much," Matt said flatly "Why don't I just go out and change that?"  
Ms Fuyutsuki sighed.  
"All right," she said "Go. But I want you here tomorrow, nine o'clock sharp. Right?"  
"Yes, yes, right," Matt said "See you then."  
He grabbed a bag and turned to march out.  
"And get your hair cut!" Ms Fuyutsuki shouted after him "It's getting so long as to be ridiculous! It needs cutting! You look like a girl!"  
"Isn't that what I'm supposed to be?" Matt flung back over his shoulder as he marched out and closed the door. He then slowly ran a hand through his hair.  
It was getting pretty long. Ms Fuyutsuki was right. It was sort of feminine. Maybe he ought to cut it...  
Matt slowly ran his fingers through his hair again. It felt...kinda nice...  
Matt scowled. Releasing his hair, he marched of down the road, rummaging in his bag for a stake.  
"Feel the need to kill the nearest bad vamp," he muttered.  
He scrambled into the graveyard and started wandering, tossing the stake up and down and humming.  
"Hey vampy, vampy!" he called "Nice tasty blood round here. Come on..."  
"Calling me Slayer?"  
Matt looked at the vampire. Kinda hunky in a creepy ridged face sort of way. Good body. Wearing a black and red baseball cap.  
'I should NOT be noticing this stuff.'  
Matt shrugged and waved. Then he sprang at the vampire, kicking and punching. In a few moments, he'd staked the vampire. Bending down, he picked up the only thing left. The black and red baseball cap.  
Matt stared at it for a moment. Then he slowly gathered his hair up onto the top of his head and put the cap on top of his head. His hair was now completely hidden.  
"Look like a girl my ass," he muttered.  
* * * *  
"Hey Matt! Nice hat!"  
Matt touched the hat a little self-consciously, then grinned at Davis.  
"You're a little late," Davis said "We thought you'd be here sooner."  
Matt rolled his eyes.  
"I had a training sesh with Ms Fuyutsuki," he said "I'd forgotten I agreed to meet everybody. So..."  
He shrugged and slowly walked with Davis to see the others. The Digidestined were sitting around. Tai and Ken waved cheerfully. The others all looked a little awkward. Matt felt a pang go through him as he noticed that TK wasn't there. Like he always did whenever he saw the Digidestined now.  
He missed his brother so much. It was like a constant ache inside him.  
He'd killed his own brother.  
Okay, he'd been dead before. But Matt had finished him off.  
Matt swallowed and pushed the thoughts away. He couldn't afford to think this way. This was the first time the Digidestined had all been together since the slightly crazy events that had transpired.  
"Hey guys," he said cheerfully.  
"Hey Matt," Izzy said nervously after a seconds pause.  
Matt slowly sat down beside them all. There was an awkward pause.  
"So you've really given up school?" Yolei asked, her voice laden with something that Matt didn't understand.  
"Really and truly," Matt said  
"What are you going to do with your life then?" Yolei asked.  
"Slay," Matt said.  
He felt a depressed jolt.  
"And be famous with the band!" he added.  
Tai groaned.  
"Honestly Matt," he said "That's all you ever go on about! You will so never be famous!"  
"You wound me!" Matt said "I am deeply insulted and will never ever talk to you again."  
"Thank God," Tai said.  
There was another awkward pause. Then Ken started talking to Kari about something and the silence was gone in a rush of conversation. A rush of conversation that Matt felt strangely excluded from.  
It wasn't something he could exactly put his finger on. But somehow it was like being a big group of people who all know each other and somehow ending up sitting on the outside of it, not quite included. He got to speak and people spoke to him but somehow...he wasn't exactly really in the group.  
'You're paranoid' he told himself 'You're really, really paranoid. Stupid.'  
But the feeling continued, well after the group had broken up and he was walking home.  
Then he opened his door and wave of atmosphere was nearly over-whelming.  
"Er...hey Dad," he offered.  
His father barely even looked up. He'd obviously already made his own food and had eaten. Matt couldn't see anything for himself. Quietly, he walked into the kitchen. He wasn't really feeling very hungry but Ms Fuytusuki was always drilling in how important it was for the Slayer to keep her - his strength up by eating properly. Matt eventually got himself some potatoes and made himself a bowl of mashed potatoes. It was something warm with plenty of energy.  
"Is that all you're eating?"  
His father sounded disapproving.  
"I'm not all that hungry," Matt said "Potatoes are good for you."  
"Yes."  
Matt looked away and slowly began to eat his potatoes.  
"School starts soon," his father said quietly.  
"I know."  
"You really aren't going back?"  
Matt chomped his potatoes viciously before replying.  
"I'm really not going back."  
"What the hell do you intend to do with your life then?" his father yelled.  
They'd had the conversation before. Matt wasn't looking forward to having it again.  
"I've told you," he said "I'll be with the band. I'll get money from that. I can get a job!"  
"You haven't got a job all summer!"  
"I tried! No one needs anybody!"  
"Why will that change?" his father yelled "And who will take you without proper qualifications? You're throwing your life away Matt! And for what?"  
Matt kept eating his potatoes silently, glaring at the blank wall.  
"Dammit Matt, you listen to what I have to say!"  
"I have listened!" Matt yelled "I've listened to you loads of times! Dad, I'm sixteen, going on seventeen! You can't run my life Dad! I'm an adult!"  
"You are not acting like an adult! You are acting like a child!" his father yelled.  
"Well you won't exactly be winning any maturity stakes!" Matt yelled "Why won't you just accept that I am not going back to school! It might not be the life YOU planned but it's the life I'm picking for me! So leave me alone!"  
He turned and stormed into his bedroom, exercising enough control to stop himself slamming the door very hard. He didn't want to break it after all. Flopping onto his bed, he buried his head in his pillows, feeling miserable.  
He wished that he could tell his father about his Slaying. It would make it so much easier. But Ms Fuyutsuki had expressly forbidden him to even attempt it. Besides, Matt worried about his friends. He didn't want to worry about his father too.  
He lay completely still for a while, then reached under his bed and pulled out a small cardboard box. Inside it, he kept letters. Matt removed the first one and re-read it. Angel had been writing to him steadily since he and Spike returned to America. Spike had written to him several times as well but Matt always held Angel's letters in a special place in his heart. His special fondness for Angel still lingered, despite the knowledge that Angel was thousands of miles away.  
Matt smoothed the letter gently, smiling. Angel seemed to be managing okay. The world hadn't ended anyway and Angel had mentioned several interesting sounding battles.  
So had Spike for that matter.  
Matt replaced the letter and then scrambled up and began packing a small Slayer-duty bag. He was sick of lingering inside.  
"I'm going out Dad!" he yelled.  
"Yamato!"  
Matt closed the door behind him.  
He wandered through the graveyard slowly, tossing his stake up and down. After a while, he sat on the nearest graveyard, wondering.  
His father was right. Where was he going? What has going to happen to his life? His friends were acting...freaky. His father was angry with him. He hadn't spoken to his mother since TK's funeral.  
Everything felt so wrong.  
Matt looked at his watch. Only two days before school re-started.  
Only no school for Matt.  
The vampire sprang at him from behind. Without even looking, Matt jerked round his stake, getting it straight through the heart.  
"I'm getting good at that," he muttered.  
* * * *  
"I just don't see why we need to show for school!" Davis was complaining "School sucks! I want to be a proper demon fighter!"  
Matt grinned. It was the night before everyone had to go back to school and Matt had decided that he was going to have a small party. The band, Tai, Ken, Davis and Kari. Matt had considered inviting the other Digidestined but Ms Fuyutsuki had said flatly that she was having no more than that group in her house. And Matt was sort of grateful, although he wasn't telling anyone. Things just felt so awkward.  
He shook off his funny feeling and nibbled on the tortilla chips, listening to Davis.  
"I mean, why can't we just use magic to do our homework?" Davis was saying.  
"Because it's not allowed," Ms Fuyutsuki said "And because you can't do magic and you wouldn't be able to anyway."  
"I could so," Davis said, looking insulted.  
Matt snorted.  
"I doubt magic's that easy," he said "Not that my experience is particularly good mind you."  
"It's crappy," Akemi said, gulping back some more beer.  
"My experience is not crappy! It's just not really very extensive!"  
"Will you two stop squabbling?" Toshiki asked "You've been squabbling nearly all summer. It's annoying. Don't."  
Matt rolled his eyes and settled back.  
"What does magic really entail anyway?" Ken asked "Can anyone do it?"  
Ms Fuyutsuki frowned, actually looking like she was seriously considering Ken's question.  
"Not everyone," she said eventually "Some people can't do spells at all, others can do small amounts of spells and powers vary from there."  
"Can you do spells?" Matt asked curiously.  
"A few. Nothing big," Ms Fuyutsuki said "Of course, as I am a Watcher, I have specific knowledge of all sorts of magic, of all varieties."  
"There are different types?" Istu asked curiously from where he was sitting.  
"Dark magic and not so dark magic," Ms Fuyutsuki said.  
"Do you have lots of magic books?" Akemi asked.  
"Yes...but don't you even think about it," Ms Fuyutsuki said quickly making everyone, even Akemi laugh.  
"Don't worry," he said, amazing everyone "The idea of me being able to do magic? Kinda scary. Although, I would enjoy being able to float things with my mind! I bet that you could really use that for interesting new positions...like for writing a new Karma Sutra."  
Everyone stared at him.  
"I'll stop talking," Akemi said obediently.  
"So where'd you keep your magic books?" Ken asked "I'd love a look."  
"I'd rather you didn't," Ms Fuyutsuki said "Some of them are pretty potent."  
"Well, do you have anything that's small?" Ken asked.  
"Do you want to be a witch Ken?" Tai asked, gaping "And what would you call that? A male witch?"  
"Warlock isn't it?" Matt said "Or would it be wizard?"  
"We normally just use the phrase Wiccan for all," Ms Fuyutsuki said "Although some people don't mind being called a warlock."  
"Okay," Ken said "And no, I don't want to be a witch...wiccan. I'm just interested in the theories."  
Ms Fuyutsuki looked thoughtful.  
"Well, all right," she said.  
She walked upstairs and came down with a large box of books.  
"Try this one," she said "History of Witchcraft. It's quite a good one."  
"Any spells?" Davis asked curiously.  
"No," Ms Fuyutsuki said "That's why it's a good one."  
Everyone laughed. Ken started flicking through the book, his eyes taking on the dreamy look that they often wore when he found an interesting book. Davis rolled his eyes.  
"Wake up you idiot," he said "We're supposed to be partying."  
"Hey look at this one!" Akemi said, sounding excited "A Spell to make you excrete gold coins! Wicked!"  
Ms Fuyutsuki calmly removed the spell-book from his hands.  
"No," she said firmly.  
"Oh please!"  
There was promptly a small battle over the book while everyone laughed.  
Everyone was watching Akemi and Ms Fuyutsuki fighting. No one noticed Davis quietly reaching into the box and putting several of the books into his rucksack.  
* * * *  
If anyone had been in the Tsuna Apartment building, they would have witnessed a young girl walking in.  
"Excuse me Miss," the lady at the desk said "May I help you?"  
"Yeah sure," the girl said "Where's the nearest unrented flat?"  
"Er...you can't just walk in," the lady said "You have to apply, have good references, fill in a form..."  
The girl looked at her and rolled her eyes.  
"Whatever," she said "I've got great references, just gimme the damn keys."  
"I'm sorry Miss," the lady said, beginning to feel annoyed "But it doesn't..."  
"Shut up," the girl said. She boredly flipped out her hand "God of White, pure and bright, take her mind, to my will bind."  
The lady on the desk blinked.  
"Hi," the girl said "I'm Zillah Magic, you've got some keys for my new apartment?"  
The lady blinked.  
"Oh yes," she said vacantly "Here you are."  
"Thanks."  
Zillah looked at the number on the keys.  
"13 huh?" she said "Unlucky for some."  
She picked up her bags and took the stairs. Unlocking her new set of rooms, she thoughtfully set the bags on the floor and walked to the window.  
"Welcome to your new home Zillah," she said.  
She tossed her hair and smiled. Her hair was long, thick and the colour of the shadows.  
  
End of Part 1. 


	2. Ice

Yamato the Vampire Slayer 2  
Ice  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  
  
"Tai, get out of the way!"  
"I'm not in the - woah!"  
Tai yelled as he banged into the nearest gravestone. Matt rolled his eyes and staked the vampire with easy precision.  
"Are you okay?"  
"I'm just great," Tai said, glowering darkly up at the night sky "Ju-u-st great."  
Matt reached out to help his friend up but Tai pulled away and pushed himself up.  
"I'm fine," he said with a small grin "No help needed, okay?"  
"Next time I tell you to move," Matt suggested gently "Move, okay?"  
"Stupid vampire," Tai muttered "Throwing me at the gravestone! It's cheating!"  
"It's hardly cheating," Matt said "They are fighting for their lives you know."  
"Yeah..."  
Tai frowned.  
"You aren't supporting them are you?"  
"No! Don't be stupid! They're soulless creeps! I'm just saying, you can't really expect them to fight fair!"  
Tai sighed and rubbed his arm, then grimaced in pain.  
"Bastards," he muttered.  
Matt shrugged.  
"You know, you really don't have to patrol with me," he said "I know it must be hard, what with school and everything."  
Tai rolled his eyes.  
"Oh don't bother about that," he said "School. I can deal with that!"  
Matt shrugged.  
"I suppose so," he said after a moment "But only if you're sure..."  
"I'm seventeen," Tai said "I know my own mind you know."  
Matt sighed and kept walking, eyes searching the graveyard restlessly. He felt uneasy with Tai beside him. If Tai got hurt...  
Matt couldn't help remembering the image of Tai crumpled in a cage, covered with bruises, face white as bones. It had scared him, scared him more than he liked to remember. Tai had never discussed what had happened to him in that cage.  
What TK had done to him.  
Matt pushed the thoughts away and smiled at Tai. Tai smiled back but it was a vague smile, not really attentive.  
He'd been acting different with Matt for such a long while now and Matt barely noticed it any more. They just kept walking.  
* * * *  
"So that's the Slayer?" Zillah said thoughtfully.  
She was lying on her new bed, kicking her heels together and staring boredly into a basin of water, in which she could see Matt and Tai walking together.  
"He's no girl," she added "He's a boy. A very pretty boy but none the less..."  
"There was a small accident with the calling."  
The voice was soft and whispery, with a melodious under-tone. It came from everywhere and no where at the same time.  
"I told you of the incident. He was born in the wrong form and when a Slayer who had already been replaced, died a second time, the magic order was disrupted. Therefore..." "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Zillah interrupted "Therefore the natural order of things was spoiled and little Slayer-Boy called summoned up, rather than the normal girl-power kick."  
She sighed.  
"Must be a bummer for him. My heart bleeds really."  
There was a sort of chuckle.  
"So," Zillah said "What am I going to do to him first?"  
She tapped her fingers on the side of the basin for a moment, then grinned.  
"Let's start small, shall we? Make his life a little....difficult."  
Dipping her fingers into the basin, she raised them and let the water drip slowly back into the basin.  
"Water - powerful element, give me leave to summon one of your many forms. Give me leave to use your energy for my will. Water - powerful element - come to this place as ICE!"  
At the last word, the water in the bowl froze, catching Matt and Tai's forms in the distorted way that ice does.  
Outside, it began to hail.  
* * * *  
"SHIT!" Tai yelled as the bullet hard hail stones started striking him "Hail!"  
"Oh REALLY?" Matt snapped "You know, I hadn't noticed!"  
"Ow!" Tai yelped "Ow, ow, ow, ow! It HURTS!"  
"You'd better go home!" Matt yelled over the roar of the hail "I have to finish - OW! Jesus! - patrolling but there's no point YOU getting bruised too! And it'll only take a couple of minutes! Anyone with any sense will have run for it by now! Even vampires!"  
Tai nodded.  
"Thanks!"  
"Wait!" Matt yelled "Have you got a cross or stake? In case..."  
"Yeah, I'm all set!" Tai shouted back "See you!"  
He turned and dashed off. Matt stared after him for a moment, then turned and kept moving, trying not to slip on the carpet of hailstones. The hail stones were horribly hard and he didn't like it.  
And there was something...not quite right about it. He didn't know what or how he knew about it. But he knew. There was something a little bit wrong with the hailstorm.  
'I'm being silly' Matt scolded himself 'Stop it Ishida! Just finish patrolling and get out of here!'  
He kept moving, trying not to slip on the icy carpet that had already formed over the ground.  
* * * *  
The next day, it was still hailing.  
"This is NOT normal," Matt said, staring out of the window "I knew it wasn't last night. Hail just doesn't last this long!"  
He tried to phone Ms Fuyutsuki, only to discover that the phone lines were down. Sighing, he decided to walk down to see her.  
She answered the door looking irritated.  
"Ah, Yamato," she said "I'm guessing you think that this hailstorm is unnatural?"  
"No kidding," Matt said rather crossly "How many hailstorms do YOU know that last for almost twenty-four hours."  
"Actually, it's possible," Ms Fuyutsuki said "But rare. However, we shouldn't wait. The ice is going to cause terrible damage if it continues to fall this way."  
"So what do we do?"  
Ms Fuyutsuki smiled.  
"You'd better go and visit Miss Aida again," she said.  
Kaya Aida was a wicca that Ms Fuyutsuki knew. Matt had called on her services once before to stop some children having their life forces drained.  
"I have to walk?" Matt groaned, looking out of the window.  
"Looks that way," Ms Fuyutsuki said calmly "Off you go."  
Matt walked the whole way. By the time he reached Miss Aida's apartment, he was actually bleeding where some of the hailstones had hit him.  
"I know," Kaya said as soon as she saw it was him "And I can't."  
"What?"  
"I've already tried to send it away," Kaya said "It wouldn't go."  
Matt groaned.  
"Why?"  
"It's powerful," Kaya said slowly, her eyes darkening "This is not natural Yamato. Whatever or whoever conjured this storm is very power and they did it for a reason. I don't know what but I know that they did. You should be on your guard."  
"But what can I do about the hail?" Matt asked.  
Kaya sighed.  
"They may get bored and choose to remove it on their own," she said "Or if it's a demon, you can go and kill it. That would stop the hail."  
"Good idea," Matt said.  
He looked miserably at the hail.  
"I need to invest in a suit of armour."  
* * * *  
It was still hailing when Davis closed the door to his room that night and carefully bolted it. As soon as he'd found out about Matt and vampires and demons, he'd bought himself a bolt for his door and got one of Jun's friends to fit it. His parents had been furious but Davis hadn't cared and had won the battle. It meant that he had more privacy. Which had come in very useful since he'd started studying spell books.  
He removed one of the spell books from its hiding place behind his chest of drawers. He'd been studying them for a while now with great patience. Davis was dyslexic and found reading very, very difficult. But he'd persevered when it had come to these magic books. He was desperate to know about it so that he could try a spell for himself without risking accidentally turning himself into something horrible.  
His perseverance had paid off. Davis was thinking that he was ready that night try and see if he could do something that night.  
He frowned. He'd taken what Ms Fuyutsuki said to heart and studied the books very carefully, reading everything once, stopping for a while, then reading it again so he knew that he hadn't misread it. He knew that really, it was wrong to steal Ms Fuyutsuki's books and attempt to learn magic without her permission or any help. But the idea fascinated him. He knew that he wasn't very much use to Matt as he was and longed to be able to help in some way. And he was sure that even if he couldn't help Matt, he could use the magic to help people in other ways. Maybe it could cure his dyslexia or help people when they got ill. And he'd always loved the sound of magic, even before he'd known that it was real. He'd been practising some of the little things for weeks now but no actual spells or 'real' magic, just breathing exercises and things to do with the mind. But he'd decided that he was ready to try something new now.  
Reaching over, he removed a longish pencil from the bedside table and put it on the floor in front of him. Closing his eyes, he listened to the hail drumming on his window and slowly breathed in and out, trying to focus and relax at the same time.  
When he finally felt that he was relaxed and focused, he imagined the pencil slowly rising off the floor, rising so it was in front of his face and hovering there. Just remaining quite still and hovering there, held there by his mind.  
Not quite daring to open his eyes, Davis pushed away the feelings of fear and imagined the pencil beginning to spin slowly and steadily, not falling, just remaining in the air.  
Swallowing, he opened his eyes.  
The pencil was hanging in the air, slowly spinning.  
Davis laughed with delight, watching the pencil slowly spin. He'd done it! He could do magic! He'd DONE it!  
The pencil kept spinning, slightly faster and more erratically now. Davis took several deep breaths until he felt focused again then raised the pencil higher and made it hover again, pointing outwards. Then he plucked it out of the air and reached under his bed where he kept the stakes he had, just in case. Maybe he could use his magic to wield stakes and kill vampires with.  
Davis put the stake on the floor and looked at it. He wanted to try with his eyes open this time.  
Slowly, the stake wobbled, then rose into the air. Davis grinned and tried to jab out with it. The stake dropped to the floor and Davis winced as a pulsing headache began behind his eyes. He suddenly felt exhausted. He didn't even bother to change, just kicked the stake under his bed and slid inside the covers, almost instantly falling into a very deep sleep.  
* * * *  
"I'm getting bored," Zillah said crossly "All this hail means I can't go anywhere!"  
She stared out of the window.  
"Why doesn't that stupid Slayer-Boy STOP it?"  
"He is no match for my power."  
Zillah scowled.  
"Damn. Should have used mine, not yours. Meant to."  
"Our powers are bound together. Your choice over which power is used for a spell is limited."  
Zillah scowled.  
"But I have one right?"  
"Naturally."  
"Humph. Well, anyway, it's a waste or everyone's energy. Okay, I'd best drop the hail and think of something new."  
She walked over to the basin and put her hand on the frozen water.  
"Water - powerful element - your assistance has been great. I thank you. You may depart."  
The water unfroze and outside, there was an almost eerie silence as the hail stopped falling. Zillah sighed.  
"Well, that sucked," she said "I'd best think of something better next time."  
She tipped the water down the sink, frowning to herself.  
"Just need to work out what..."  
* * * *  
Matt walked to Ms Fuyutsuki's the next day, alternately crunching through the ice and splashing through the water. Several children had been out making ice sculptures.  
"That was weird," he told Ms Fuyutsuki "Why would anyone make a hail storm?"  
"I don't know," Ms Fuyutsuki said slowly "It doesn't seem to have a purpose - except to cause a little disruption."  
She frowned.  
"No matter. If there was some sort of significance, then doubtless it will show itself."  
Matt didn't find that idea all that reassuring. As far as he could see, leaving things hanging was not a good idea. But Ms Fuyutsuki knew (THOUGHT she knew) best and he wasn't going to argue.  
He'd been awake most of the night listening to the hail.  
* * * *  
"Hey Matt!"  
Matt looked over the road and saw Kari waving at him. She was standing with Iori and Yolei. Matt felt the usual pang at not seeing TK, then frowned.  
"Where's Davis?" he asked, jogging up.  
"Apparently he over-slept," Kari said with a small giggle "By the time he woke up, it was about 11:00 and in his own words 'he couldn't be bothered'."  
"How do you know?" Matt asked.  
"I phoned," Kari said "He answered the phone, called me some rude words for waking him up then told me."  
Matt snorted.  
"Trust Davis."  
He grinned at Yolei and Iori who smiled back sort of uneasily.  
"Hey," Matt said, suddenly remembering "Have any of you spoken to Mimi recently? I tried to phone her yesterday but she was engaged."  
He saw the look that passed between Yolei and Kari before Yolei said "She's fine. I spoke to her last week."  
"What was the look for?" Matt asked, his voice still uncaring.  
An awkward pause. Matt began to feel worried.  
"What?" he said "Come on, spill. What's going on?"  
"Matt, can I talk to you aside for a second?" Kari asked.  
Before Matt could protest, she had pulled him away from Iori and Yolei.  
"What?" Matt said.  
"Matt, Mimi's being...a little strange," Kari said awkwardly "Yolei's...told her about you being a Slayer and...well to be blunt, she doesn't believe you."  
"Huh?"  
Matt knew that his response was somewhat dense but he just couldn't understand it. Kari looked rather upset.  
"Er...she doesn't believe you," she repeated "She thinks that this Slayer stuff is a load of baloney and we've all made it up to tease her."  
"Oh," Matt said lamely.  
He didn't know what else to say. It was something that he just couldn't quite grasp. What was he supposed to say?  
"Sorry," Kari said.  
"No. No, it's okay," Matt said "I...I guess that it's a little much to just expect her to believe without seeing what's happening. Tai didn't believe when it was in front of his face."  
Kari just nodded. Matt got the strange impression that Kari wasn't telling him everything. But he didn't pry. Surely Kari wouldn't keep anything from him if it was very important?  
"I'd better go," he said "I need to make sure the house is completely clean before Dad gets home. Otherwise I'll get another lecture about being at home all day and not doing any work. He doesn't know I'm mainly out at Ms Fuyutsuki's."  
Kari nodded.  
"See you later," she said.  
Matt walked off. At the end of the road, he glanced back at Kari, Yolei and Iori. They appeared to be arguing. Kari looked very unhappy.  
Matt kept walking, feeling very bothered by the whole thing.  
* * * *  
Tai was sitting on his bed, pretending to be doing his homework (he was actually reading a magazine) when Kari came in.  
"Hey Kari," Tai said.  
"Hey," Kari said. She looked troubled.  
"What's up?" Tai asked, slinging his magazine aside.  
"I was walking with Yolei and Iori and we ran into Matt," Kari said.  
Tai raised his eyebrows and waited for her to continue, although he had a feeling he knew what was coming.  
"I had to tell him about Mimi," Kari said "I think he was upset."  
Tai nodded, but knew that wasn't the end of it.  
"Kari?" he said when she didn't continue.  
"Tai, we're going to have to tell him sooner or later," Kari said "Yolei would have told him today only I thought that one shock was enough."  
"It probably won't come as much of a shock," Tai said "He can't complain."  
Kari shrugged.  
"Then why did you insist that we didn't tell him?" she asked.  
Tai turned away.  
"It's just...everything's pretty busy you know?" he said defensively "First him getting Called, then TK's death and then quitting school. You know, the guy needs a break!"  
Kari sighed.  
"He'll find out soon," she said "And he won't be happy."  
"Believe me," Tai said "I know."  
* * * *  
Matt was sitting in the bathroom, looking at his hair.  
For around three weeks now he'd keep it tucked up in his hat. It was now past his shoulders and a distinctly feminine style. Framing his face, it made him look more like a girl than ever before.  
Scowling, Matt tugged at it. He'd noticed that the hat no long sat properly on his head. His hair was too long to tuck up underneath it without some sort of restraint.  
It took Matt about half an hour to plait his hair and tuck it back under his hat. Now he looked like a boy again.  
"Dammit!" Matt hissed "I AM a boy! I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy! Ken looks feminine and no one says he's a girl! I'm a boy!"  
He banged his head angrily on the mirror, then stalked into his bedroom.  
'I need to invest in more hats' he thought to himself 'This hat is getting manky. I wonder how you steal vampires things?'  
Well, he had no money to spare. And the vampires were dead and therefore, no longer in need to any of the stuff that they stole of people.  
Matt ignored the little voice inside him that said this was morally dubious and began packing a Slayer bag, ready for the nights patrolling.  
At least it had stopped hailing.  
  
End of Part 2. 


	3. Fog

Yamato the Vampire Slayer 2  
Fog.  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - Don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Digimon.  
  
"Happy birthday Izzy!"  
Izzy grinned at Matt who was standing on the doorstep, looking somewhat dishevelled but offering a nicely wrapped present and smiling cheerfully.  
"Thanks Matt. I thought you weren't coming."  
"I got distracted along the way."  
Matt walked inside, brushing a few remaining leaves from his clothes and hat. He'd managed to cry some time off from patrolling owing to it being Izzy's sixteenth birthday party. Unfortunately, vampires didn't take time off just because the Slayer was and he'd been attacked by an over-zealous vampire which had been fairly easy to stake. Only problem was, she had thrown him into a bush which had snagged on all his clothes. It had taken him about ten minutes to wriggle out of the bush but he'd managed not to damage his outfit much, which was something he was quite proud of.  
Izzy took him into the main room where the other Digidestined were. Izzy's parents had been convinced to go out so they could inhabit the whole house and be as loud as they wanted. Everyone waved at him, calling hellos. Izzy had already unwrapped most of his presents and the place was covered in brightly coloured wrapping paper which Davis and Tai were playing with. Ken was watching Davis in a sort of amazement as Davis happily threw wrapping paper in the air and wrapped it round himself like a little kid. Matt had a feeling that Davis had never really grown up. Maybe soon.  
In a blue moon or so.  
Matt went over the inspect the presents while Izzy ripped the wrapping paper open. Matt had bought him a book about computers. It had eaten up a large amount of his savings but Matt hoped it would be worth it.  
"Thanks Matt!" Izzy called happily "This is excellent!"  
Matt grinned, feeling relieved and looked back at the presents. His eyes fell on a small glittering snowstorm. Inside it was a tiny model of Izzy, sitting at a computer table, completely oblivious to the tiny snowflakes that fell around him when you shook the globe. The snowflakes sparkled different colours, while looking incredibly like real snow. It was really quite beautiful. Matt had never seen anything like it.  
"Wow Izzy! Who gave you this?"  
"Davis," Izzy said "He won't tell us where he got it from."  
"I keep telling you," Davis said happily "Magic!"  
Izzy threw a ball of wrapping paper at his head. Davis ducked and laughed. Matt rolled his eyes but vaguely noticed that despite his cheery appearance, Davis was looking tireder than normal. He made up his mind to ask Davis about it later on.  
"Matt, your jacket's ripped," Ken said.  
"Crap," Matt muttered, quickly examining the rip "I'd better hide that, Dad'll kill me!"  
"No luck with a job then?" Tai asked as Matt sat down next to him.  
"Absolutely nothing," Matt confessed with a sigh "I'll have to get something soon. For a start, I don't have any money!"  
"Doesn't your Dad give you pocket money any more?" Kari asked.  
"No. He says if I don't go to school, I need a job."  
Matt crossed his eyes briefly then shrugged.  
"I'll think of something."  
The problem was he reflected, Ms Fuyutsuki liked him training in the daytime. If it was up to her, he wouldn't do anything but train, eat, patrol and sleep, with less focus on eating and sleeping. Matt flatly refused to obey this regime and Ms Fuyutsuki seemed to respect that - sort of. But she certainly wouldn't be happy with him doing a job.  
But he'd spoken the truth. He WOULD think of something. It would probably take a while, but he'd think of something. There was always a position open for a rent-boy or so after all.  
He grinned at that thought. He could just imagine Akemi's reaction to THAT. Istu would probably hire him every day.  
"Food!" Izzy yelled, breaking through his distinctly strange thoughts.  
They ended up eating the food on their knees, being loud and cheerful. Once again though, Matt felt the strange feeling of exclusion. No matter what he did, there was that permanent feeling of not quite belonging. And he hated it. He was still trying to convince himself it was paranoia but the more he sat there, the more he doubted it.  
"Have you lot all had enough?" Izzy asked.  
"Yes," came the general chorus "No!" Davis and Tai chorused together.  
Izzy choose to ignore Davis and Tai. Tai had never eaten enough food, Matt only remembered two ocassions where Tai had said he was full up, and one of those had been right before he'd thrown up.  
Izzy stood up and started collecting the plates.  
"Put a video on," he ordered them "I promised Mum and Dad I'd do the washing up before they got home and if I don't do it now, I'll forget."  
"Okay," Tai said, getting up "Now let's see..."  
He began scrambling through the videos, holding up selected choices for approval. Matt swallowed, then jumped up and caught Izzy's arm.  
"I'll help you."  
"Oh...okay," Izzy said, looking startled.  
They stood in silence for a while, Matt washing, Izzy drying and putting away, while Matt tried to summon up his courage. Eventually he swallowed and took a deep breath.  
"Izzy?" he said "Is everything...okay between us?"  
"Sure it is," Izzy said, sounding slightly uneasy "Why'd you ask?"  
"It's just...whenever we - the Digidestined I mean - are all together I can't help feeling...well, sort of left out," Matt admitted "I know it's silly but I just feel sort of...well, excluded. I was just wondering if everything was okay."  
"Of course it is," Izzy said, his voice sounding unnaturally high "There's no problems, nope, none at all!"  
Matt frowned. He knew what Izzy was like when he was lying and this was definietely, definietely Izzy lying, or at least bending the truth somewhat.  
"You don't have to lie," he said eventually "I'm a big boy, I can handle it."  
There was another long silence as they listened to the laughter of the others as they watched whatever they were watching.  
"It's just weird!"  
Matt jumped as Izzy blurted it out.  
"Huh? What?" he said, having vaguely lost track of what was happening.  
"Everything," Izzy explained "Look Matt...it's just...well...you know."  
"No I don't," Matt said slowly "I don't know at all."  
He was beginning to get a very bad feeling about what might be coming. Izzy gave him an almost embarrassed look.  
"Well...see from our side Matt," he said, almost pleadingly "You don't go to school any more, you don't work - but if anyone calls you, you're hardly ever in. Since you don't actually HAVE anywhere to go, it's like you just wander off somewhere. You apparently go off and kill...things...at night time and show up late to places with either no excuse or because you've been killing things!"  
Matt stared at him.  
"What do you mean apparently?" he demanded sharply, settling on the one thing that really stuck out in his spinning mind "Don't you believe me?"  
"Well...you know," Izzy muttered, twisting a wash cloth in his hands.  
"I told you; I don't know anything!" Matt snapped.  
"Matt, it's not exactly likely!" Izzy exploded "It's scientifically impossible in fact!"  
"So are Digimon!" Matt shouted "You believe in THOSE!"  
"I've seen them!" Izzy flashed back.  
"What do you want?" Matt demanded "Do you want to see a vampire? I can take you to one! Ms Fuyutsuki was telling me about a nest just this morning! Do you want to see it? I can take you to see vampires easily Izzy, I just don't because I thought you guys were my friends and I'm TRYING to protect you from almost certain death!"  
"What the hell's going on in here?"  
Matt and Izzy had got very loud during the course of their argument and Matt turned to realise that the Digidestined were standing at the doorway, staring at them in surprise. He glared at them all, filled with anger and hurt.  
"I'm not crazy!" he yelled at them "Vampires are real! Why'd you think I'd make something like this up? For kicks?"  
"Maybe TK's death fucked you up more than we knew," Yolei said with a shrug.  
"Yolei!" Kari hissed, nudging her friend but the damage had been done. Matt gaped at Yolei in disbelief.  
"Is that what you think?" he said at last "That I'm...fucked up?"  
"It's what Mimi and I think," Yolei said sharply "Face it Matt. This stuff is crazy. Vampires aren't real. Neither are demons or Slayers. So you can't be one."  
Matt looked at the others, waiting for them to say something. They were all looking embarrassed and fidgeting, even Tai and Davis and Ken who'd all seen the things that Matt fought against.  
"I'm not fucked up," he whispered.  
Almost instantly, his mind went to his hair, long and frustrating, yet something just wouldn't let him cut it. His reactions to things.  
Was he fucked up?  
"Hey, Matt's not crazy!" Davis spoke up defensively "We've seen vampires too!"  
Yolei simply snorted.  
"Are you calling me a liar?" Davis demanded furiously.  
"Oh forget it!" Matt yelled "Just...forget it! Forget I was ever born! I don't care!"  
He shoved past them and stalked out, only running when he'd slammed the door behind him. He did a quick patrol but the vampires seemed to know he was angry and kept away, obviously not wanting to get completely pummelled. Eventually Matt sat on the cemetery wall and stayed there, kicking it steadily, trying to think of a way of riding himself of the fury inside.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Hey, the Slayer-Boy's moping in the graveyard!" Zillah said.  
She was staring into her scrying basin again, her shadow-dark hair spread over her back and round her face. She'd watched the argument between Matt and his friends and had watched as Matt furiously patrolled. Now she was watching him as he sat on the wall.  
"Well, if he wants something to kill..." she murmured.  
She turned and reached under her bed for her magical supplies and produced two things, a handful of earth and a neatly polished human finger bone.  
  
* * * *  
  
Matt was considering going home and carving himself more stakes - a good way of removing frustration when he couldn't kill things - when he heard a strange dry cracking noise from somewhere. For a while he ignored it but it was getting louder. He looked around, confused.  
"Hello?" he called, then rolled his eyes. If there was anything out there that meant him evil, it wasn't going to reply. That was something you could learn by watching enough horror movies!  
He looked around again, then stared.  
The graves nearest to him had opened. Not like a vampire rising, where the earth was pushed up. The earth here had simply parted, cracked neatly open. As he watched, the bodies slowly rose out.  
Matt reeled back, completely repulsed. The smell was disgusting. And as for a appearance of the bodies...  
"Oh God!" he moaned "This is disgusting!"  
One of the zombies lunged towards him. Matt kicked upwards. His foot went straight through the zombies ribcage with a disgusting crack-squelch noise.  
"Oh God!" Matt moaned again, wrenching his foot back. The zombie kept lunging and Matt had to jump over the wall to avoid it. The other zombies were gathering now slowly walking towards him.  
"Okay," Matt muttered "How in the name of hell do you kill zombies?"  
He couldn't think of anything. He had never learned anything from Ms Fuyutsuki about zombies. Unable to come up with anything at a moment's notice, he settled on the best opinion open at the time and ran away. The zombies followed at a lumber and Matt knew he would be able to lose them easily. But then what would they do? He had to destroy them.  
What would kill zombies? Fire perhaps? Where would he get fire from?  
The crematorium!  
But there were too many zombies...  
He'd work that out when he got there.  
He ran all the way there, still being chased by the zombies. Reaching the crematorium, he smashed the lock on the door and dived inside, wondering where they kept the furnaces.  
  
* * * *  
  
"He's good, isn't he?" Zillah said in a leisurely way.  
"Naturally."  
She ignored the patronising tone in her mentors voice and tapped her fingers on the side of the bowl.  
"Do you reckon they'll kill him?"  
"I don't know. Perhaps."  
Zillah looked back into the bowl.  
"Next time I'm making myself popcorn," she remarked.  
To her, it was just a show.  
  
* * * *  
  
Matt was now crouched in the room with the furnace in it, hoping that the zombies wouldn't come in slow enough for him to chuck them in. He was stoking up the flames and hoping that they wouldn't crawl out again still on fire. That would go down badly.  
"I need a mobile phone," he muttered, peering out into the corridor.  
The zombies were marching towards him. To Matt's disgust, he saw that they were shedding bits of their bodies as they walked.  
"They couldn't have resurrected something solider?" he moaned, ducking back inside and waiting.  
The first zombie lumbered in. Matt lifted it up and hurled it into the flames, wincing with disgust. The flames seemed to work; it gave a piercing shriek and he could see it writhing but it wasn't trying to come out again. Matt chucked the next zombie in and dodged another that lunged. To his complete revulsion, it hit the well and disintegrated, the parts still scrabbling aimlessly.  
"Oh GROSS!"  
Matt kept fighting, throwing the zombies around, mainly into the fire. Some of them never reached him. Obviously the spell - for it couldn't be anything else - only had limited power. By the time no more zombies were coming, Matt was covered in body parts and slime. So was the room. And there was a combination of disgusting smells, burning flesh and decayed flesh. Matt doused the fire and looked at the mess.  
"I think I'll just leave it," he said uncaringly and walked out.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Impressive," Zillah said "I never thought he'd manage it myself."  
There was no answer and she hadn't really expected one anyway. She grinned.  
"I'd best give him a little break," she said "Don't want to wear him out - the fun is only just starting!"  
  
* * * *  
  
"Matt! Matt!"  
His father was shouting him. Matt snapped out of the meditation that Ms Fuyutsuki had ordered him to practise, blinked his eyes a few times and shouted "Yes?"  
"Your friend Sora is here to see you."  
Matt winced. That was the last thing he wanted to hear. He was tired, having got as little as an hours sleep. First he'd had to report the zombie attack to Ms Fuyutsuki, who'd made him patrol again before letting him have a bath. Then she'd roped him into research. Matt had resorted to desperate measures in the end; he'd crawled out of her bathroom window and sneaked home. His father was still under the happy deluded belief that Matt had slept at Tai's house and come home early for some actual sleep and Matt didn't intend to enlighten him.  
"Send her in," he yelled, standing up and stretching sore muscles.  
Sora walked in. She looked tired and a little nervous.  
"Hey Matt," she said.  
"Hey," Matt said "Feel free to sit down..."  
He suddenly realised what a mess his room was in. Clothes were flung carelessly any old where. The only things properly tidied up were his Slayer supplies, although there was a bottle of holy water sitting on the chair in plain vision. He hadn't realised how much he'd let his room go. Once it had been very clean and polished. Feeling a bit embarrassed, Matt thoughtfully picked the holy water bottle up and kicked the clothes around it aside for Sora to sit down. She smiled at him.  
"My room's worse," she said "Look...Matt. We need to talk."  
Matt sat on the bed opposite her.  
"Talk away," he said flatly.  
Sora looked at him for a few moments. Matt waited, rather curious about what she intended to say to him.  
"Matt," Sora exploded suddenly "Has it occurred to you we might act this way because we CARE about you?"  
Matt blinked, startled at her anger and at the idea. It hadn't occurred to him at all. In fact, he still didn't really know what she was talking about.  
"Huh?" he managed eventually.  
"We're worried about you Matt!" Sora said "One day, everything's normal - or as normal as it gets being a Digidestined. Then suddenly TK's dead and you claim that a vampire's killed him and turned TK into a vampire and you're a chosen Slayer who is the only person who can stop vampires killing other people! And before you kick off, we do believe you - well, most of us anyway - but it's hard to take!"  
Matt continued to blink at her. Sora sighed and reached out to take his hand.  
"Matt, none of us know what to do," she said gently "What are we supposed to say? From what we've been told this is some sort of 'forever' deal. You've given up school, you've drawn away from us - oh yes you did, it was you who stopped talking to us first. It's hard to just let you back in, especially as we know that things have changed. Can't you understand that?"  
Matt swallowed. Removing his hand from Sora's, he pressed his face into his hands.  
"I'm sorry," he muttered hoarsely "I'm so sorry! I never thought..."  
"Of course you didn't," Sora said, a little wryly "You never do."  
Matt sighed.  
"Mimi and Yolei don't believe me, do they?" he asked.  
"Well...Yolei does sort of," Sora said hesitantly "She knows that it's there...but she's denying it. Can you blame her? Mimi doesn't believe but you can't really blame her either. She's seen nothing. All she knows is what's been said to her and quite frankly, it doesn't exactly sound believeable when presented to you on paper."  
"And the others?" Matt asked.  
"We believe you," Sora said "But like I said, no one's sure what to do any more."  
Matt sighed. What Sora said was making sense. He didn't like it but it was making sense. It had taken Tai months to accept what had happened and he'd seen Matt's weapons and read Matt's diary. In comparison, the Digidestined had taken it incredibly well.  
"What should I do?" he asked.  
"Just let us in," Sora said "We've been talking and the others will be trying to make an effort. Just try and accept it - no matter how clumsy the effort might be."  
Matt nodded.  
"Thanks Sora," he said "You're terrific."  
Sora grinned.  
"I know," she said "But it would be immodest to mention it!"  
Matt laughed. To Sora's surprise, he gave her a brief hug before stepping backwards and blushing. Sora grinned.  
"Here," she said "Why don't I help you make this room habitable again? I don't know how you intend to live in a place like this!"  
"Oooh, a cleaner!" Matt joked, leaning back on his bed "Well, get going then slave!"  
Sora threw a shirt at him.  
"Don't even think about it," she said "You're helping!"  
  
* * * *  
  
The next day, Matt was surprised to find Iori on his doorstep clutching two Kendo sticks and some clothes.  
"These should fit you," he said abruptly, pushing them into Matt's arms "I think the stick will do."  
He pushed past Matt and into the living room.  
"There's not much room but it'll do," he said, looking around critically "We'd best put some of this furniture aside though."  
"W-what?" Matt managed, closing the door behind him "Iori, what are you doing?"  
"Teaching you Kendo," came the reply "Now help me move this stuff."  
For a few moments, Matt was completely confused. Iori was teaching him Kendo? Did Matt get a say in this? And why?  
'Just let us in when we make the effort!'  
Sora's voice floated back to him and he felt himself smile slowly. Iori wanted to try and help him.  
"Okay," he said "Let's get going then!"  
When Iori finally left, Matt wasn't especially worn out - Ms Fuyutsuki's training was worse - but he was tired. Iori had been gruff with him but it had slowly improved as the 'lesson' had gone on. Matt had a friend again! And he was learning a useful new skill...  
The phone rang. Matt knew who it was before he answered it.  
"I've been trying to reach you all day," Ms Fuyutsuki said.  
"I know," Matt said "That's why I left the answer phone on and ignored the phone."  
"Where did you go last night?"  
"Home," Matt said, stifling a sigh.  
"Without informing me!"  
"Yes, that would be because you're a slave driver and you wouldn't have let me go," Matt said, rather annoyedly. Ms Fuyutsuki didn't seem to realise that she was a complete tyrant and that Matt actually needed to breath and sleep occasionally. It was one of the things that drove Matt mad about her. As well as everything else of course.  
"Yamato, you don't seem to realise how important - "  
"I DO!" Matt yelled "I was attacked by freaking zombies which - apart from being gross - wasn't exactly a picnic! But I need to sleep once in a while!"  
Ms Fuyutsuki's snort told him that she thought he was being over-dramatic.  
"I want you here now," she ordered crisply.  
"Can't," Matt said "I'm going out. I'm still trying to get a job."  
"YAMATO!"  
"Oops, got to go," Matt said quickly "The lines breaking up!"  
He hung up on her outraged shouts, knowing that he wasn't doing himself any good but not caring. Ms Fuyutsuki wound him up so badly. She was authoritative and bossy and Matt hated adults like that. In fact, he hated almost anyone who tried to boss him around.  
But she was his Watcher. He HAD to get along with her. The Slayer NEEDED her - HIS Watcher to survive.  
Matt scowled at the use of 'her' in his mind. Just because Slayers were normally - okay, ALWAYS - girls...  
He didn't want to think about this. Whenever he did, he ended up in a well of despair and depression. He wasn't a girl!  
Unwillingly, Matt found himself going into the bathroom and removing his hat, letting his hair fall out of it. He hated that hair, hated it so much...  
'So why don't I just CUT IT?'  
Tears of frustration weld in Matt's eyes as he looked at himself with long gold hair. He knew that the sensible thing would be to cut it but he didn't want to. Deep inside, he wanted it to stay that length. He liked it long.  
It wasn't his hair he hated. It was himself.  
Matt buried his face in his hands and began to cry.  
  
* * * *  
  
The next day when Matt returned from training, there was a note from his father saying that Joe Kido had rung about four times. Curious, he rang Joe back.  
"Hey Joe."  
"Oh, hi Matt!"   
Joe sounded slightly nervous but definitely determined to say what he meant to say.  
"I was wondering...wondering if you wanted me to tell you some stuff about first aid!" he blurted "I mean, all this fighting...if you got hurt, you wouldn't know what to do. And I'd be happy to help out, I really want to..."  
Matt was annoyed to find himself tearing up. His friends really did care.  
"Sure," he said thickly "That sounds great Joe. I'd really appreciate all your help."  
"Great!" Joe said "Maybe tomorrow?"  
"Sure," Matt said "After school okay for you?"  
"Sure."  
They spoke for a few more minutes before hanging up. Matt leaned back and grinned, his heart feeling incredibly light. Joe was his friend again! Iori was his friend again! Sora said that the others wanted to be his friends and everything was working out fine...  
The smile vanished from his face when his father walked in.  
"Been sitting there all day?" he asked coldly.  
"No," Matt said, sitting up "I've been out."  
"Too much to hope that you've been doing an honest days work?"  
Matt bit his lip.  
"I'm trying," he whispered.  
"I can imagine."  
His father stalked past him. Matt sighed, then jumped as the phone rang again. He lifted the reciever, deciding that if it was Ms Fuyutsuki, he was going to find that mountainiering whistle his father had and blow it down the phone at her.  
"Hello?" he said warily.  
"Matt you are NEVER going to guess what!"  
It was Gendo, sounding insanely excited.  
"Huh? Okay?" Matt said "What?"  
"You know the gig we've got coming up?" Gendo said "Well Toshiki just called me and we might get a record deal out of it!"  
"WHAT?" Matt yelled "You are MESSING with me?!"  
"I am not," Gendo said "Toshiki's been sorting it out. There's going to be a representative of the company there and if they like us, we are going to get to perform for them and we might get a deal!"  
Matt cheered loud enough to wake the dead (metaphorically speaking of course). His father gave him a completely confused stare which he ignored.  
"This is going to be GREAT!"  
"I reckon we can get it," Gendo said "Toshiki thinks we can and I agree. We might get famous Matt!"  
"I know!" Matt said "Fame and fortune, here I COME!"  
He and Gendo briefly spoke before hanging up. Matt danced into his bedroom and danced up and down in a sort of parody of one of his training moves. If this worked out right, he might get money in, he might get famous...  
Things were really looking up.  
  
* * * *  
  
Davis was lying on his bed. His door was bolted shut so no one could interrupt him. They'd be unlikely to interupt him as it was 12:32 but Davis was taking no chances. He was planning on trying a more difficult spell that night.  
So far, Davis hadn't progressed much from simple levitation. His most complex spell had been to change a rather plain shop-bought snowstorm into the gift he'd given Izzy. That had been a sort of transfiguration and had been very hard but he'd only tried it once. As it was altering something that was already in the form he wanted, it hadn't been as hard as transiguration spells normally were. He wanted to have another go, using something bigger, and then see if he could change it back.  
Sitting in front of him was a loaf of bread that he'd 'borrowed' from the kitchen. He was going to change it into a cake. Bread and cakes were still connected, which meant it wasn't going to be terribly hard but it was still tricky.  
Davis licked his lips and slowly let himself relax, breathing slowly in and out until he felt completely calm. Reaching out a hand, he held it over the bread, then pictured a chocolate cake in his mind, vividly enough so he was actually feeling hungry.  
"Kaeruious," he whispered.  
There was a feeling of something passing through him, something that was only half pleasant. Opening his eyes, he found himself looking a sponge cake. He didn't care. He'd changed a loaf of bread into a cake!  
Davis tasted a bit to see if it tasted like cake. It sort of did although there was a distinct taste of white bread somewhere. But it was more cake than bread.  
Licking his lips, he held out his hand again. Could he change it back?  
"Kippuous," he said.  
Another feeling of something going through him. When he opened his eyes, there was the loaf of bread again.  
Davis pumped the air briefly with his fist. He was getting better at this! He could change things into other things! And he wasn't collapsing with exhaustion!  
Davis took out another of his magic books, absently chomping on the loaf of bread. He wanted to try more things. He could do magic! He could do magic!  
Davis wrinkled up his forehead and began to read the book in front of him.  
  
* * * *  
  
Matt knew he was dreaming again. The swirling storm clouds that surrounded him were the same. Then he was sucked into them, flipped and tossed by the wind. When it stopped throwing him about, he found himself simply hanging in mid-air, not dropping, just hanging. As he watched, he saw Davis was there too. Davis was huddled on a storm cloud. He looked like he was meditating or doing yoga. His eyes were closed and he was talking to himself, his hands extended over a stone bowl of some sort. What looked like fog was building up in the bowl. Davis opened his eyes and blinked at it.  
"Uh oh," he murmured, his voice audible from where Matt hung.  
The fog grew larger. A tendril slowly slid out of the bowl and curled round Davis's wrist. Then another tendril snaked out, twining itself round Davis's other wrist. Davis stared at it, his eyes confused as the grey fog kept growing, wrapping around him, smothering him.  
"Matt! Help me!" he shouted.  
Matt didn't know what to do and in any case, the wind wouldn't let him go, kept him suspended. He couldn't move anywhere. As he watched, he saw the greyness swamp Davis completely. When it receded, Davis was gone, completely absorbed by the smoke.  
Matt jerked awake, coughing and gasping. Taking steady deep breaths, he looked around, checking that he was safe in his own room.  
"Now that was weird," he muttered.  
Curling up again, he dozed off, letting the bad dream drift out of his mind.  
No one had ever told him that a Slayer's dreams were often prophecies of the future.  
  
End of Part 3. 


	4. Where Do We Go From Here?

Yamato the Vampire Slayer 2  
Where do we Go From Here?  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I don't own Digimon. I'm not earning any money out of this and I'm not trying to infringe copy-write. Please don't sue me!  
  
Matt put the Kendo stick down and flopped onto the couch with a thump. Kendo was cool to learn and interesting too but it was bloody exhausting, especially added with training and patrolling. Plus the extra band practises he was trying to fit around his schedule. His life was way, way too busy.  
"You're getting better," Iori said "You're really learning fast."  
"It comes from all the other combat training," Matt said dryly "You tend to pick up on the "how to beat people up best" really quickly."  
Iori snorted at that and began putting his things away. Matt stared at the ceiling for a while, then squirmed up and grinned at Iori.  
"How's everything going for you anyway?" he asked "Enjoying school?"  
Iori gave him a look.  
"Oh yes, it's really thrilling," he said with a smile "We're not doing anything very special anyway."  
Matt grinned.  
"That's pretty much my memory of school," he said "How's Yolei?"  
He saw Iori flinch. Yolei was a touchy subject for everyone around Matt but Matt wanted to know. Yolei was still his friend, even if...  
"She's fine," Iori said "She doesn't really hang around with us any more. She spends most of her time with her other girl friends."  
Matt felt a guilty pang. He knew that a rift was growing between his friends. It appeared that Yolei was away from them completely. And even those who knew and believed were separating off slightly. Tai, Davis and Ken were all happy to get involved deeply, even coming out patrolling. The others were not so inclined. In fact, while they all wanted to be there for Matt, they'd all made it pretty clear that they were not at all interested in getting on the front lines. Matt accepted this - heck, he liked it, he hated his friends being in danger - but he knew that it was still creating a rift between everyone, even if he accepted it.  
Why did they have to grow apart? It wasn't fair. Why had this happened to him? He wasn't even a girl!  
"Matt?"  
Matt realised he'd zoned out and smiled at Iori, hoping he looked convincing.  
"Sorry," he said "Away with the fairies again. Look, you'd better be going, it's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow?"  
Iori nodded and quickly picked up everything he needed to take.  
"Goodbye Matt."  
"Bye Iori."  
Matt saw the boy out and watched him until he was out of sight. Then he went into his bedroom to practise his guitar for a while. The band were all practically going over board with practising, desperate to get to the gig in absolute perfect condition. They all really, really wanted that contract, Matt more than most. This was something that he could do that would prove he was normal, and something that would actually get him some money. Then his father would be proud again, which would sort out something else that was causing Matt problems. No doubt about it, they DEFINITELY needed to get that contract.  
Matt smiled to himself, quickly losing himself in his music.  
  
* * * *  
  
Kaya Aida was one of the most powerful Wiccans in Odiaba. Which was why she couldn't fail to notice the signs that there were two new powers popping up around her.  
The first had obviously been that dreadful hailstorm. Then she'd felt the reverberations of something else big happening. But as well as these two big things, she'd felt little ripples, as though someone was trying small things, and increasing them in size. From the signatures of the powers, she'd say that there were definitely two different people practising magic in the vicinity.  
As Kaya had helped Ms Fuyutsuki and the Slayer before, she saw no reason not to try and help again. Ms Fuyutsuki had asked for her help over the hailstorm after all, and although Kaya hadn't been able to stop it then, she'd been researching and listening out. While she didn't have any leads as such, she thought it was important that Ms Fuyutsuki knew that there were two people practising magic.  
She was walking along the streets when a girl stepped out into her path. She had long thick dark hair that fell loose to her waist and her eyes were cloudy grey. She smiled in what appeared to be a cheerful friendly way. Kaya instantly sensed an aura of power and stepped back slightly, smiling guardedly.  
"Hello," she said.  
"Yeah, whatever," the girl said "You're Kaya Aida right?"  
"Yes," Kaya said "And who are you?"  
"Zillah," the girl said calmly.  
The name meant nothing to Kaya but she hadn't really expected it to. She just smiled again.  
"Can I help you Zillah?"  
"Not really," Zillah said, sounding rather regretful "I'm going to have to send you away now."  
Kaya blinked.  
"Indeed?" she asked neutrally.  
"Yup," Zillah said "I need the keys to your flat."  
Kaya stared at the girl, amazed by her cheek. Zillah smiled.  
"Forget it," she said "I'll just open it by magic."  
She held out her hand which Kaya noticed was bedecked with rings. They were mostly the plastic jewellery that teenagers wore but the one on her middle finger looked like it was made of real silver. Gleaming on it was a smoky grey gem which suddenly began to glow with a deep inner light.  
Before Kaya could do anything or say anything, the smoke reached out and covered her. Her vision went grey and the last thing she knew was that she was being inexorably sucked forwards, where to, she didn't know.  
Zillah shrugged rather regretfully as Kaya vanished into her ring.  
"It's a shame," she remarked out loud "But what else can I do? I need the power."  
She shrugged.  
"Better head for her flat and collect the books before anyone else tries it!"  
  
* * * *  
  
Matt was packing his bag for a night's patrolling when the phone rang. He quickly kicked the bag under the bed and sprang onto it, grabbing a book and trying to look studious, just in case it was for him.  
His instinct was right. His father opened the door.  
"It's someone called Angel for you," he said.  
Matt leaped off the bed and shot out, grabbing the phone.  
"Angel?"  
"Hey Matt."  
Matt grinned, happy to hear a such a welcome familiar voice.  
"How's things?" he asked, leaning against the wall "Enjoying yourself in not-so-sunny LA?"  
Angel laughed.  
"It's not too bad here," he said "Things are...interesting to say the least. What about you? Anything wild?"  
"We had a hailstorm that lasted two days," Matt suggested "That count?"  
Angel laughed again and Matt felt a small flutter inside which he quickly banished.  
"Matt, I have something to tell you," Angel said. He suddenly sounded very happy, as though it was excellent news.  
"What/" Matt asked.  
"Buffy - the Slayer - she's alive!"  
Matt wasn't entirely certain what to say to that in a way. He knew that it was a good thing - especially for Angel, and of course Spike. But...  
"That's marvellous," he said "You must be so happy."  
"Willow brought her back to life with a spell," Angel said, his voice still sounding overjoyed "She's back and fighting evil in Sunnydale!"  
"That really is wonderful," Matt said, his stomach cramping bitterly "I'm really pleased for you Angel."  
They talked for a little while longer (Angel seemed to keep bringing it back to Buffy in Matt's eyes) before hanging up so that Angel's phone bill didn't get too high. Matt returned to his bedroom, bitterness filling him and making him sick.  
So. The Slayer whose death had called him was alive. Which really meant that his destiny, his birthright - was a complete and utter waste of time. He didn't need to be fighting because there was only supposed to be one Slayer at any one time - and thanks to Buffy Summers there were THREE Slayers at this time.  
Another bitter pang shot through Matt. Everything he did was for nothing. TK's death - for nothing because he never needed to be called in the first place!  
He grabbed his bag and scrambled out of the window. He needed to get out of here and go patrolling. He needed to find a good demon to kill.  
  
* * * *  
  
Zillah was sprawled on her bed, flicking through a book of magic she'd removed from Kaya Aida's apartment. She knew that somewhere in one of these books was the spell to summon up a Garuru Demon and she wanted it. She hadn't done anything for a bit and felt the boy Slayer deserved some excitement of the demon variety.  
"GOT IT!" she yelled in triumph eventually. Leaping off the bed, she skipped over to her chest and pulled it open, scrabbling through until she found what she needed - six long white candles, chalk and salt. Kneeling down on the floor, she began preparing for her incantation.  
The Slayer Boy was in for a shock that night.  
  
* * * *  
  
Matt was considering calling it a night - nothing was happening after all - when he heard a very faint growl coming from somewhere behind him. Quickly he spun around, glancing up to check that it wasn't a full moon - Ms Fuyutsuki had made him read a lot about werewolves recently. It wasn't however, and therefore Matt knew he could assume it was something else. It hadn't sounded like a vampire and therefore he could assume that wooden stakes weren't necessary Removing a long, sharp knife from his bag, he pushed it aside and waited nervously.  
He didn't have long to wait. A huge creature suddenly leaped out in front of him. For a brief second Matt thought it was Garurumon but then he realised that it wasn't. The creature was white and roughly wolf-shaped but its front paws were more human-like and it didn't have a tail at all. Matt was struck with a different feeling of familiarity then - he knew that somewhere he'd seen this demon before.  
But before he could consider it longer, the creature lunged at him with a very unwolf-like shriek. Matt dodged, swiping at it with his knife. A thin line of blood appeared on the creature's shoulder blade and the creature howled with fury, hand-paw sweeping out for Matt. Matt dodged again but the misplaced air knocked his hat from his head and his hair tumbled down. Matt cursed softly, knowing that if the creature got a grip on his hair, it would hurt. It was also likely to be the first thing that it grabbed for.  
With a sigh, Matt leaped straight at the creature, trying to land on its back so he could use the knife to sever its spinal cord. The demon was too quick for this and although Matt landed on the demon's back, it bucked violently before he could get a grip and sent him sailing off. As Matt staggered to his feet, a great blow hit him, sending him flying through the air.  
Matt was never sure how it happened. But when he'd fallen from the demon's back, everything had got twisted round and when he was thrown and hit the wall with such force, somehow - somehow - the knife he was holding had got twisted enough to go straight through the palm of his hand.  
Matt had never felt pain like it before. He screamed, blackness flickering at his vision, blackness Matt desperately wanted to give into, anything to escape the pain...  
Then his Slayer instincts kicked in and somehow he sprang away from the demon as it lunged again, other hand scrabbling blindly to pull the knife out of his palm. He braced himself, then as the demon leaped for him again, threw the knife straight into it's chest. The demon screamed as in landed on him, Matt smelt blood and fur as they both slid along the ground. He grabbed the knife with his uninjured hand and ripped at the creature's chest. There was another scream of pain, Matt felt scolding hot blood soaking his clothes and then the demon went limp on his body. Matt lay there, completely unable to move, paralysed by the pain and pinned down by the demon's weight. Tears fell down his cheeks in streams and he found it difficult to force himself to remain conscious. Eventually, he shoved the demon away from him, moving as slowly as possible. He got to his feet and then risked a glance at his hand. His stomach churned and he quickly stopped looking. Stupidly, he bent down and retrieved his hat, clumsily tidying his hair back into it with one hand. He knew he needed to do something about the demon but knew that in his current condition, he couldn't do anything.  
Slowly and haltingly, he headed for Ms Fuyutsuki's house.  
  
* * * *  
  
Ms Fuyutsuki was sleeping when she heard someone thump three times on her door. Scrambling up, she pulled on her dressing gown and walked down the stairs, as the thumps came again, weaker this time.  
"Who is it?" she called.  
"Matt."  
Frowning, Ms Fuyutsuki opened the door. She instantly had to grab out and catch Matt as he crumpled in through her door. He was covered in blood, although where it stemmed from was not immediately apparent.  
"Good God!"  
"Mostly from a demon," Matt said, his voice distant "My hand....my hand though."  
Ms Fuyutsuki looked. Unlike Matt, she'd seen worse wounds and didn't recoil.  
"It hurts," Matt whimpered.  
"Yes it would," Ms Fuyutsuki said gently "All right. Come on."  
She dragged Matt into her hallway, wrapped the hand up quickly and efficiently and phoned for an ambulance. She then phoned Kaya Aida, deciding to try and get her to dispose of the demon body as she herself had to go to the hospital with Yamato.  
But nobody answered the phone.  
  
* * * *  
  
Matt drifted into consciousness to find himself surrounded by a large group of very alarmed people. He saw Ms Fuyutsuki, the band, Tai, Kari, Ken, Davis and Joe. The first thing he thought about panickedly was his hair but he could feel it slicked back into a long ponytail and lying underneath him. They probably hadn't seen it and if he didn't mention it, they probably wouldn't either.  
"Hey," he said weakly.  
"I'll go and fetch your father," Ms Fuyutsuki said "He's getting a coffee."  
Matt glanced at the nearest clock and saw that it was about midday. He blinked, surprised.  
"They sedated you," Joe explained "You did some pretty nasty stuff to your hand you know. Tendon damage, broken bones...quite charmless."  
"Yes, that I can feel," Matt said, still drowsy "It's okay though isn't it?"  
"It was a pretty small wound," Joe said comfortingly "And a clean entry. The doctors were able to patch you up and there won't be any lasting damage, except for a scar. You should be right as rain in about three weeks but it's going to hurt like a bitch until then so no exercise for that hand!"  
Matt grinned a little but it was wiped off his face when Akemi spoke up.  
"Can he still play guitar?"  
"Not in those three weeks," Joe said "Trust me, no way."  
"WHAT?" four horrified voices screamed. Matt was confused for a moment until Istu said haltingly "But the concert - that's in a week! He HAS to be ready for that concert!"  
Matt felt his stomach turn to ice. The concert...oh god, no...  
"Look, you don't have to trust my opinion," Joe said "You can ask the doctors if you want, I won't mind. But I promise you, Matt won't WANT to play a guitar for three weeks! That hand is going to HURT."  
"But that concert is going to make our careers!" Gendo yelled "We could get a record deal!"  
Joe shrugged a little helplessly.  
"I'm really sorry," he said.  
There was a silence then. Matt looked at his fellow band members. Gendo was fuming with rage, obviously wanting to hurt someone. Akemi was looking stunned, as though he didn't quite understand what was going on. Toshiki's face was completely neutral, schooled to look that way by many years of practise. Istu was crying. Matt couldn't tell if it was from frustration or upset but he could see the tears sliding down his friend's face. Matt suddenly felt the knowledge hit him like a well-placed punch.  
They weren't going to be able to play the concert. Which meant that they wouldn't get their record deal. Which meant that because of his Slaying - because of the stupid, stupid Slaying that he shouldn't even have to do because he was a boy and there were already two others Slayers - he'd not only let his friends down but possibly destroyed any chance he had at getting any sort of normal life.  
"Guys," Tai said, his voice nervous "I'm sure there'll be other chances. This isn't the only chance you know. As soon as Matt's better..."  
"Yeah," Akemi interrupted harshly "Whatever."  
He stood up and stormed out of the room. Gendo followed him. Neither of them even said goodbye. Matt felt tears beginning to push at his own eyelids. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't.  
"Perhaps I ought to go to," Toshiki said softly "Someone had better get cancelling things and those two won't."  
"Toshy..." Matt said but he didn't know how to carry on from there and went quiet instead. Toshiki shrugged.  
"Are you coming Istu?"  
Istu nodded shakily and stood up.  
"Goodbye Matt," he said brokenly.  
They walked out of the room, not as fast as the other two, just at their own paces. But somehow, it made Matt feel worse and the tears pushed their way out and began oozing down his face.  
"Matt!"  
His father. For once looking like he actually cared.  
"Matt, how are you feeling? Does it hurt? Do you need one of the doctors?"  
Matt just shook his head in answer to all three questions. Despite trying to fight them back, the tears continued to run down his face.  
Everything was spoilt again.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Gendo! Akemi! WAIT!"  
Toshiki and Istu chased up behind them and caught them up. Gendo was about to unlock the van but Toshiki put a restraining hand on the blonde's shoulder.  
"You're too upset to drive," he said quietly "Let's talk first."  
They scrambled into the back of the van and sat round in a circle. Istu was still crying and he accepted the tissues Gendo silently offered him. Gendo then let it up a ciggerette, his face still twisted in a furious scowl.  
"This isn't happening," Akemi said "I'm dreaming this. I dreamt something like this a couple of nights ago and I woke up then!"  
"Sorry," Toshiki said "But this is 100% real."  
"You said that in my dream too," Akemi said, sounding slightly giddy "This CAN'T be happening, it just can't be!"  
"Face facts," Toshiki said flatly "It is. There's only one question we really need to consider now."  
He looked at them each in turn; at Gendo's anger, Istu's misery and Akemi's confusion.  
"Where do we go from here?"  
  
* * * *  
  
Matt was awoken from his feverish doze by someone holding his injured hand which was throbbing uncomfortably. He muttered something and felt a hand brush through his hair soothingly.  
"Shhhhh."  
"Davis?" Matt muttered drowsily.  
"Shush Matt."  
Then he could hear someone whispering words over his hand. It sounded like utter nonsense, something about potatoes and the pain being taken away but it obviously worked because the pain suddenly went. Then he was released and someone tip-toed out.  
Matt went back to sleep and when he woke up he remembered it as a rather strange dream.  
  
* * * *  
  
He was allowed home after a few days but it didn't make him feel any better. The other Digidestined all came over or phoned him but things were awkward again. They were obviously shocked by what had happened. This didn't stop Davis, Tai and Ken offering to take over until he was better which helped somewhat but the nervousness of his other friends still hurt him bitterly. Every time anyone arrived, Matt always made sure that he was either wearing a hat or had his hair pulled back into a ponytail so that they couldn't see how long it really was.  
The band didn't contact him at all. On the day of the ill-fated concert, Matt curled up and cried himself sick with rage and misery.  
A distraction quickly came in the face of Davis.  
The day after the concert should have been, Ms Fuyutsuki arrived, dragging Davis with her. Davis was looking obstinate and sulky. Matt was lying on the sofa, the TV remote in easy reach. He smiled nervously at them.  
"Hey," he offered.  
"Hi Matt," Davis said.  
"You sit down," Ms Fuyutsuki ordered sharply. She turned to Matt and her face was wearing its most forbidding frown.  
"Yamato," she said "Did you know that Daisuke had stolen some of my magic books and was practising arcane powers?"  
"WHAT?" Matt yelled.  
"It's not that bad," Davis said with a small grin "I'm pretty good actually!"  
Matt turned and stared at Ms Fuyutsuki.  
"I didn't know," he said "I had no idea!"  
"Good," Ms Fuyutsuki said, her voice still icy "Because I would have hated to report you to the Watchers Council for abuse of arcane rights."  
"What the hell happened?" Matt demanded.  
"Last night, Daisuke threw....threw a dustbin at a vampire that was attacking us," Ms Fuyutsuki said icily "A stupid thing to do, and a waste of power to boot."  
She turned to Davis.  
"How long has this been going on?"  
"Since that party before everyone had to go back to school," Davis said.  
"And exactly what have you done?" Ms Fuyutsuki enquired.  
Davis shrugged.  
"Levitation," he said "I transfigured that snowstorm for Izzy. I changed some bread into cake. I did some other stuff too. I can do a lot. I'm good at this."  
"That is not for you to decide," Ms Fuyutsuki hissed "You will return my books to me and you will cease this dangerous work NOW."  
Davis's lips set stubbornly.  
"I won't," he said "You can't make me. I like magic and I'm good at it. You can't stop me doing what I want to. I'll return the books but I won't stop practising my magical powers."  
"Davis, you have to!" Matt said "Don't be insane, this is deeply dangerous!"  
"I'm fine!" Davis snapped "I can do what I want and I want to do this! And you can't make me stop!"  
He stood up and stormed out of the apartment, despite Ms Fuyutsuki ordering him to return. Matt leaned back against his pillows with a sigh.  
"Oh great."  
"I thought he'd have more sense," Ms Fuyutsuki said "I told you that getting your friends involved was a bad idea!"  
"Well I didn't know Davis would be so stupid!" Matt snapped back "I'll call Ken tonight. He might be able to talk some sense into that pig-headed little idiot!"  
Ms Fuyutsuki sighed.  
"Do you think he can?"  
"Maybe," Matt said uncertainly "If Davis will listen to ANYONE, it'll be Ken."  
He scowled.  
"Damn Davis!"  
Ms Fuyutsuki stood up.  
"I should go," she said "I'm going to visit Kaya Aida, I haven't heard from her in a while. Do you know when you can resume training?"  
"Another week," Matt said miserably "I should be fine then."  
He knew that his accelerated healing powers were helping him out here and was sort of grateful - but not really. He shouldn't even have to have them because he should be the damn Slayer!  
"Very well," Ms Fuyutsuki said, completely missing his bitterness "I'll see you soon then. Goodbye."  
She walked out. Matt watched TV again for a while until he suddenly threw the TV remote at the wall.  
"I have to get out of here!" he yelled.  
He dressed himself carefully and walked out, wandering the streets randomly, hating everything around him. It looked so peaceful now, just humans and cars. And then at night the demons came out and the world was dark. Matt's world. The world he should never have belonged to because Buffy should never have died!  
Why did he have to carry on with this? The damn bitch was alive. Angel was happy. He liked Buffy better than Matt. And obviously so. But Matt shouldn't have to live through this because there was no need for him!  
Matt scowled, instinctively clenching his fists. His hand screamed it's furious agony and he quickly relaxed it, swallowing the nausea.  
He kept walking for a while, his head spinning with the bitter thoughts and rage and misery until he finally found himself standing outside of a shop and staring in at the clothes, not really taking them in. His vision finally came back to him and he realised it was a dress shop and he was staring at a long blue-green dress, silky and sewn with sequins that glittered in the sun. Matt blinked, suddenly wondering what it would be like to try it on, wondering if it would suit him. Girls clothes were so much prettier than boys clothes. So much nicer to look at. Were they nicer to wear?  
Without really thinking about it, Matt walked into the shop, reaching for the money in his pocket.  
A few minutes later, he was walking home again, a bag stuffed with several items of girls clothing and his heart heavy in his stomach.  
  
* * * *  
  
Davis was setting up a candle to try and create fire when Ken arrived.  
"Hey Ken-chan," he said cheerfully, giving his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek "How's things?"  
"Fine," Ken said. He sounded a little stressed "Matt called me."  
Davis paused a moment, then frowned.  
"Oh," he said flatly.  
"Is it true?"  
Davis nodded, adjusting the candle, then coming over and sitting beside Ken on the bed.  
"There's nothing wrong with it!" he said "Magic's cool! You should see the stuff I can do! And it's not dangerous and I'm careful! Ms Fuyutsuki and Matt are fussing over nothing, that's all! Look, I'll show you!"  
He stretched out a finger towards the candle.  
"Ignius," he said.  
For a moment he thought it wouldn't happen. Then a flame leaped from his finger, springing onto the candle and lighting it. Ken's mouth dropped open.  
"You see?" Davis said "I can make fire Ken! And I can do all sorts of other really cool things and I promise that I'm not going to do anything silly!"  
He scowled.  
"People just don't trust me because they think I'm stupid," he said bitterly "But I'm not stupid and I'll show them that I can handle this!" Ken frowned. Twisting round he caught Davis's hands.  
"Davis," he said "Dai-chan, listen I have a real bad feeling about this okay? I want you to stop."  
Davis pulled away, his face turning pale. Ken swallowed and continued.  
"Please," he said "For me? Please Dai-chan, it's not that I think you can't handle it but I don't like it and I don't want you to do it. Please? Please don't?"  
Davis stood up and stalked over to the candle, blowing it out.  
"I'm not going to stop Ken," he said, his voice icy "I don't want to. I can't believe even you don't trust me!"  
"Of course I trust you!"  
"You don't."  
Davis sounded utterly betrayed.  
"No trusts me. You all think I'm stupid."  
He whipped round and glared at Ken with tear-filled eyes.  
"Well you're all wrong!" he shouted "I can do this and I'm GOING to do this! I'll prove myself right AND I'll show you all that I can be useful! You'll all see!"  
Ken frowned unhappily. He knew there was no use fighting with Davis in this mood and stood up to leave. As he did, he turned and looked back at Davis, who was already studying a magic book again, as though he'd forgotten Ken's very existence.  
Ken felt a pang of fear.  
"Bye," he said softly.  
Davis simply mumbled something. He didn't even notice when Ken walked out of the door.  
  
End of Part 4 


End file.
